Wednesday, October 26, 2011

A Brilliant Little Fire - A Tale Of the Town of Renaissance, Conclusion


Part 1:  Joseph
Part 2:  Anna
Part 3:  Aaron
Mayor Joseph Grey wiped the sweat from his face and cast a final glance over the town of Renaissance.

“Ladies and gentlemen: a hearty good morning to you, and welcome to Ashefallen Day!”

He pushed the plunger. A series of deafening thunderclaps rolled over the valley as the buildings exploded or caught fire, one by one.

The townspeople broke into applause.




“Renaissance is that brilliant little fire that burns within us all, that lives only for those moments when we reach perfection.”

Anna reached for Aaron's hand. “That's beautiful.”

“Not mine. The quote is from Richard Bach, and the name was Jonathan, not Renaissance. But it seems fitting.”

“Will would have loved it. And the fact that he died on Ashefallen Day.”

They had carried his body home, and placed it in his favorite chair before joining the crowds on the edge of town. What remained of Will would drift slowly over Renaissance, the place which he had helped to create so many times through the years.

“Excuse me,” came a voice from behind them. “What's going on? Is everyone mad? Has the Sickness come here as well? Is that why you're burning the town?”

Anna turned to face the distraught looking woman.

“Ah, another stranger among us. You are welcome. No, there's no sickness here; you will be perfectly safe. Today is Ashefallen Day, which we celebrate every five years. You see, long ago, survivors came together to build a town. Neighbor cared for neighbor, everyone shared what they had, worked together, suffered together. They shared a vision of a community which would be close-knit, loving, self-sufficient. And it was so for a while. Even in the old world, the same phenomenon was observed; disaster brought out the best in everyone. But sooner or later selfishness and greed, crime and politics, bigotry and hatred came to call and then moved right in. The same thing happened here. And so it was decided that our town would be destroyed every five years and then rebuilt. The fire cleanses and the spirit renews. We are unlimited in our visions of the future; the town can be redesigned exactly as we choose, and each of us is entitled to a new beginning as well. What you see before you is the formation of yet another clean slate.

Welcome to Renaissance.”

Finis

Word Count: 397
Prompts:  Misfortune accepted
                 New arrival in town

**********************************************
Thank you to co-host Stuart Nager for suggesting "Ashefallen" as the name of the holiday. 

To all of the various participants - and readers - involved in the Rule Of Three writing project:  thank you for your interest, your efforts and your time.

Now will come the hard part as the four hosts read, discuss, talk, email, Skype, and create the shortlist of winning entries. Keep watching for more info, updates and announcements.

I hope you have enjoyed your visits to Renaissance  :-)

Until next time....

Lisa







































18 comments:

  1. Brilliant! I think has been my favorite story of the Blogfest so far. One of the most hopeful things I've read in a while. Very uplifting. Bravo!

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  2. Thanks Rick! That's exactly what i'd hoped for - was worried it might seem "preachy".

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  3. Beautiful name: Ashefallen Day! Sometimes I feel like I need me one of those days! Great concept!

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  4. The idea of renewal works well in your story. Good job.

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  5. What an excellent take on Chaos Theory, as I come to understand it. That was a beautiful and almost creepy conclusion. Well done! :)

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  6. That was a wonderful conclusion to the story. I really enjoyed reading your pieces! :)

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  7. What a great idea! And Ashefallen really is a beautiful word.

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  8. Oh what an amazing idea! I agree, love the word Ashefallen.

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  9. I loved this part the most...a novel idea and thanks for this wonderful opportunity to write and read some wonderful entries.

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  10. Li, thank you for everything...for this story, for being such a kind and generous co-host, for helping organize the prizes, and for being such a sweetheart in general :)

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  11. I like the idea. It would be nice, knowing you get a whole new fresh beginning just so many years away. But, I don't know that I'd like having to rebuild my house so frequently :-)

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  12. Love the idea of starting anew every 5 years. Very original. :-)

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  13. renewal...for a whole community...great and needed! Thanks for all the hard work for this blogfest. I heart #REN3

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  14. I liked this ending; and it came with a nice explanation. Cool. I've enjoyed reading your characters and story Lisa. Thanks for being such a good host.

    .......dhole

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  15. This was such an uplifting story. And I agree, Ashefallen is a great name for the holiday.

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  16. I really like the knitting of perspectives together. A really great

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  17. Whoops. "A really great" finish to Renaissance's regular re-birth and renewal, bound up in how its residents live.

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  18. Also, thanks for being such a great blog host! (must stop hitting "post comment." must drink coffee.)

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